1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical diagnostic for the examination of tissue components. Specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of polarized elastic light scattering, Near-infra-Red (NIR) autofluorescence emission combined with image processing and inter-image operations as an interrogation means for investigating tissue components for medical applications.
2. Description of Related Art
Diagnostic medical equipment typically includes time-consuming, bulky, expensive apparatus that often exposes human tissue components to potentially harmful radiation and or chemicals. Optical methods and systems for the identification of objects that possess different optical properties or abnormal compositions embedded in scattering media such as human tissue are desirable because such systems can be designed as compact, inexpensive, portable, and non-invasive spectral investigative tools. Optical spectroscopy, as one such optical method example, has been widely used to acquire fundamental knowledge about physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur in biomaterials. Most tissue spectroscopy research has employed UV to visible light sources from 250-nm to 600-nm. The main active fluorophores in this spectral region are tryptophan, collagen, elastin, NAD(P)H, flavins and prophyrins. The disadvantage of these wavelengths is their short photon penetration depth in tissues, which leads to extraction of information only from superficial tissue layers.
Accordingly, a need exists for optical diagnostic methods and systems to be utilized in a compact portable system to recover optical information with regard to human tissue and organ compositions.